A Sign of Hope - Ambush in the Wastelands
by Super Nova1
Summary: Fleet command leads the last remnants of the Kharakian people to a remote location in the great wastelands. Here they hope to havest the abundant resources, and prepare for their upcoming battles, however, circumstances dictate otherwise.......as they me


A Sign of Hope  
  
Ambush in the Wastelands  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: This short story is entirely based on the RTS game Homeworld, created by Relic and produced by Sierra. The story is set in mission#4 The Great Wastelands, and follows the events presented in the specific mission. All characters, with the exception of Karan S'jet - Fleet Command, and Colonel Kaalel - Fleet Intelligence, are of my own creation. Karan S'jet belongs to the Homeworld universe, and Colonel Kaalel belongs to Robert A. Howard and was taken from his series of stories about the Kushan Exodus. The character was used with the consent of Robert Howard.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
The two resource collectors Star Light and Sand Runner slowly lumbered out of the carvernous launch bay of the mothership, and begin their trek towards the dense asteroid column that lay several kilometers ahead. The resource controller Bright Horizon, slowly fell into position behind the two collectors and began following them on their journey. The three ships gently cruised through space, heading toward the column of asteroids like a trio of hungry predators, looking for an easy meal. Three groups of corvettes swiftly flew out of the launch bay and assumed defensive positions on the resourcers' flanks.  
  
One of the escort wings was made up of a group of four light corvettes. The four corvettes glided up and took a position in front of the two collectors. The flight split into two groups of two, one group for each of the collectors. The two corvettes maneuvered along the port and starboard flank of each collector and held position as the ships continued on their way.  
  
The hulls of several of the craft were chipped and battered, signs of their last battle still visible on the corvettes. New hull plates could be seen where the old ones were blown off or damaged beyond repair. One of the ships had a slight coloring to its' ion trail as a small leak in one of the engines was venting drive plasma into the exhaust turbine.  
  
Following close behind were four heavy corvettes, taking up a defensive position in front of the Bright Horizon and arranging themselves into a loose delta formation off the bow of the large resource ship. The heavy corvettes also looked a little rough, blast marks and damaged hull plating were evident along the surface of the four ships. Following close behind the Bright Horizon was the raider corvette captured in the Kharak system. The missile corvette took up a position off the controllers' port side and glided along side.  
  
All twelve ships slowly made their way towards the asteroids in the distance.  
  
..........  
  
  
  
On the bridge of the assault frigate Avenger, Captain Marek Soban watched as the resource ships and their escorts grew more distant in the forward viewport. He turned back toward his command chair and sat down. He reached over to his left and touched a small control, a console on one of his arm rests came to life. He hit several buttons on the display screen in rapid succession, causing a new series of data to appear. Displayed on the console was a diagnostic of all the ships systems and their operational condition. For the third time in as many hours he checked his ships' status, everything was functional and all systems were in the green, as they had been the previous times he had checked.  
  
However, he had a strange feeling, in the pit of his stomach, which started soon after arriving at the wasteland region. At first, he thought it was just the emotional pain and sorrow over the destruction of his home, Kharak; something he, and everyone else was sure to be going through. But no. It was something else, a feeling of unease, as if he knew something was going to happen. He pushed the feeling aside and turned off the display console and continued to gaze silently out of the bridges' forward viewport.  
  
Suddenly, a loud beep brought him out of his silent meditation. He looked over to his comm officer, who was reaching for a glowing red button and putting on his headset. He looked over to Marek.  
  
"Sir, we're getting a signal from the mothership. Patching it through now." He hit another button and a soft female voice flooded across the comm channel. The familiar but impassive voice of Karan Sjet sounded throughout the bridge speakers.  
  
"This is fleet command to assault frigate Avenger. Move ahead seven kilometers and assume a defensive stance. Go to alert condition-three, and keep an eye out for any surprises." Karans' interface to the motherships' computer did not allow any display of emotion to escape in her voice. The cold and sterile tone with which her vocal synthesizers, processed and transmitted her speech seemed somewhat imposing to some of the crew of the fleet, but even more was the respect and admiration they all felt for her, for keeping the mothership running and keeping them all alive.  
  
Marek straightened up in his chair, "Helm, you heard the lady, set course seven-four-nine mark one-six and engage at two-thirds sub-light speed."  
  
"Aye sir." Replied the young lieutenant as his fingers flew over the controls on his console. There was a small tremor as the frigate pulled away, and a gentle rumbling could be felt in the bulkheads and the deck plates as the engines fired and propelled the proud warship forward.  
  
The captain turned his head and looked out the port viewport. Their sister ship, the assault frigate Valiant was following close along side of them. The support frigate Eclipse, along with the captured Taiidani assault frigate Redemption remained in position close to the mothership.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
On the bridge of the mothership, commander Garn Liirhra paced the command section, studying system reports and sensor updates. It was commander Garn's first bridge watch and he was determined not to disappoint his superiors in high command. He kept himself apprised of everything that went on around him, and had the other bridge officers give him constant situation updates at regular intervals. Everything was running smoothly so Garn sat down in the large command chair and began to relax.  
  
"Sir, the Star Light and Sand Runner report that they have reached the asteroid coordinates and have begun harvesting operations. The Bright Star is taking up a position close to the harvesting area," the communication officer reported.  
  
"Acknowledged comm." Send confirmation to begin processing immediately," responded the commander.  
  
"Aye sir!" came her enthusiastic reply, followed by an overdone salute. Garn smirked at her attempt to look professionl.  
  
"Patch me in to the corvette wing lieutenant."  
  
"Yes sir, opening channel." She toned it down a little this time, obviously trying to refrain from showing her junior status.  
  
"This is wing commander Tanek, I read you command." This was the voice of a veteran soldier and a warrior. There was a hardness in his voice, something that was evident even across the cold distance of space.  
  
"Commander, split your group up and move to the right and left of the asteroid field. That should cut down on your fuel consumption. Stay in visual range of the resourcers at all times and be ready to cover them in case of an ambush."  
  
"Roger that command, moving out." The corvettes split up and went on their separate ways. The light corvettes went five kilometers to the right and turned back to face the asteroid belt. The Controller was still large in the view of the pilots, the collectors were hidden by the asteroids they were harvesting but were still visible on sensors. The heavy corvettes went the same distance to the left and assumed the same guard position. The missile corvette held its' position along the aft flank of the controller.  
  
"Bridge to hangar, launch Echo squadron and begin CAP routes around the mothership and resource area. Also launch Talon squadron and have them fly a standard close patrol around the mothership."  
  
"Aye command, launching fighters now," replied the control officer from the hangar bay.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
In the hangar, Major Hass'kn Nabaal strapped himself in and re-checked all his flight systems. "All right Talon group, report in." The rest of his squadron promptly reported in over the communication channel and reported that all systems were functional. Major Nabaal finished his systems check, and, seeing everything was nominal, radioed back to launch control. "This is Talon 1, all wings are go and ready for launch."  
  
"Acknowledged Talon squadron, you are cleared for launch, and good luck!" said the launch control officer.  
  
"Thanks," responded Hass'kn, "I hope we won't need it." The major felt the magnetic launch catapult begin to come alive under his interceptor. The sleek fighter was turned a full ninety degrees and brought to face the main launch bay door. As the fighter turned, the major was treated to a spectacular view of the inside of the motherships' enormous launch bay. Small repair craft and personnel transports filled the bay, racing about their duties. As his fighter looked into launch position, the open bay door loomed before the miniscule craft. Docking lights of every color illuminated the sides of the door, which stood nearly 500 meters from where his fighter sat. A small indicator light blinked green on his instrument panel, and he moved into the back of his pilot seat. The mag sled accelerated and threw his small fighter off into the darkness, though the bay door and out into open space. The G forces holding him snugly to the very back of his ejection seat. Once the interceptor cleared the cavernous bay door, he ignited the fusion drives and brought the fighter under control. Once all the interceptors cleared the launch bay, the major opened up a comm channel to his squadron. "This is lead, all wings form up on me." The other 10 ships of his squadron moved in and formed a standard delta type patrol formation and they began to fly a patrol pattern around the mothership.  
  
Echo squadron had already launched and begun their patrol. The eight fighters had split into four groups of two, and set out on different patrol vectors. Captain Venka Hraal and his wingman were sent out on a vector that ran parallel to the motherships' directional heading, and on a thirty degrees positive angle. The scouts flew along at a leisurely pace, reaching the asteroid column in less than ten minutes, and passing over the resourcing operation. About two minutes after passing over the top of the asteroid column, captain Nabaal got a contact on his sensor display. "Come in Echo 2, I'm picking up a hyperspace signature near the resource group." He looked out his cockpit window at the scout fighter cruising close beside him.  
  
"Confirmed lead, I'm getting the same contact," the pilot replied.  
  
"Copy that," he said as he reached out and hit another control, and opened a channel to the mother ship. "This is Echo leader, we have an unknown contact coming out of hyperspace near the asteroid belt. Orders?"  
  
Commander Garn looked nervously at the comm officer, "uh.go in and investigate Echo leader. Keep us advised on your situation." He looked back out the main view port, trying to get a look at whatever was out there. Whatever it was, it was to far away to be seen.  
  
"Aye sir," replied the major. "2, you've got my wing."  
  
"Acknowledged."  
  
The majors' scout banked to port and angled back in toward the mothership. He activated his afterburners as his wingman pulled in alongside, and both scouts accelerated toward the unknown hyperspace contact.  
  
After over a minute of rapid acceleration on afterburners, an object became visible ahead of the two pilots, and began to grow larger very rapidly as they quickly approached. "This is Echo leader, we have a visual on target." He said tensely. The object was huge, not quite as large as the mothership, but still enormous. It didn't seem to show any response to their presence as they approached it. Suddenly, however, it swiveled on its' axis and angled itself toward the motherships' position. With a sudden burst of speed, the unknown ship accelerated toward the mothership, at a very high velocity. "This is Echo lead to command, unidentified craft is inbound on your position, repeat, ship is incoming on your position fast!" he said, not quite hiding the tension from his voice.  
  
On the mothership, alarms began to sound and officers began running all over the bridge trying to get a handle on the situation. Colonel Kaalel emerged on the bridge just as the unidentified ship entered visual range. "Report!" he yelled to no one in particular.  
  
Commander Garn stepped up beside him, "Unidentified vessel is still closing and has not answered our hails. Two of our scouts are pacing the craft. All other fighters are coming back to the mothership at maximum speed."  
  
The lieutenant manning one of the scanner stations suddenly looked up with astonishment as he keyed in several commands on his console, "Sir, power reading on the alien craft are..are off the scale!"  
  
Commander Garn stepped over to the console and confirmed the readings, "My god, that thing is putting out as much energy as the motherships' hyperdrive core!" He looked up to meet colonel Kaalels' troubled gaze, "What should we do? If that thing attacks, we don't have a chance!"  
  
"Lets just hope it doesn't come to that commander," said the colonel in a surprisingly calm and collective voice, given the circumstances. "Karan, are you picking up any weapon signatures or any other anomalous power readings?"  
  
The comm system clicked and then responded with the artificial voice of Karan Sjet. "I am getting massive power readings from the alien ship, unable to determine if they are weapon related."  
  
He looked a little less worried now, but not by much. "Patch me in to the fleet comm lieutenant." "Long range sensors are picking up a mothership- class mass signature moving in on our position. Power readings are off the scale. Full combat alert, stand by for contact." He quickly glanced over to commander Garn, who was standing beside him, "Have our fighters move in on the alien ship, but do not engage, repeat do not engage." The commander gave a nod of acknowledgement and proceeded to carry out his orders.  
  
  
  
...........  
  
  
  
"Aye sir," responded captain Venka as he acknowledged the colonels' flight orders. He and his wingman approached the ship, which was now holding a position roughly five kilometers ahead of the mothership. They passed over the top of the semi-circular vessel and marveled at the intense lights emanating from the inside. The fighter squadrons paced the huge vessel, flying around the area.  
  
"Shut off those damn alarms!" Marek shouted. The alarms quickly subsided. The two assault frigates assumed a defense position about a kilometer in front of the massive vessel. The Redemption was slowly moving up on their aft flank, the Eclipse was still holding position near the mothership. Marek looked out the bridge view port, they were looking 'right down his throat' as he put it. If the aliens became hostile, the crew of the assault frigates would be the first to know about it, and the first to die. Marek didn't like this idea very much, and he showed it by constantly ordering scanner updates on the unknown ship and pacing around the bridge.  
  
Colonel Kaalel watched the alien ship suspiciously through the forward window. It wasn't doing anything, just sitting there. "What do you think Karan?" he finally said.  
  
The comm cracked a bit as it activated, "Unknown. No movement has been observed in several minutes, and no answer to our hails by the alien craft. Their intentions are unknown." Karans' tone was the same as it always was, calm and collected. No one could tell that she was also nervous and concerned for her people.  
  
"Hmm..we better go to full alert. Maybe the ambassador would have more luck." "Hangar control, assemble the ambassadorial team and launch when ready."  
  
"They're already down here bridge, prepped and ready to go." Kaalel smiled, crazy diplomats he thought to himself. At least they're efficient. "Launch when ready." He said, and returned his gaze to the mysterious alien ship.  
  
"Ambassador away." Reported Karan, as the small corvette cruised out of the docking bay and out into open space.  
  
The ambassador corvette launched from the mothership and proceeded on its' way to the alien ship. All sensors were on the alien ship, it didn't seem to be reacting to the approaching corvette at all. Even though they were at risk of being attacked by the aliens, the colonel silently wished he were there with them. The modified heavy corvette passed over the assault frigates and through the swarm of fighters zooming about the huge ship. It continued to transmit their hailing message on all frequencies and all known languages.  
  
On the bridge, a communication line to the corvette was kept open to monitor their situation. "Fleet, this is ambassador. Approaching target, hailing signals open on all channels." The corvettes' modified comm gear was transmitting the same signals as the mothership, still, there was no answer. "Entering magnetic field now. Uh.fleet, we've lost guidance, and are being drawn in." Everyone on the bridge gasped, could this be an aggressive move toward the ambassador? The aliens didn't seem to be reacting aggressively toward the small corvette, and the energy levels showed no sign of any weapons being powered up.  
  
"Everyone, hold your fire. They haven't made an aggressive move yet. Let's just see what happens." Kaalel was beginning to become very tense. What are they doing he thought to himself. The ambassador spoke up again, "uh... there's a lot of lights, there seems to be some kind of activity inside, I.I can see.... The transmission cut off as the corvette disappeared inside the massive ship. There was not further contact from the ambassador. They waited several minutes, and after the ship made no more movements, everyone was getting very nervous. "Karan, is there any signal or..anything from the ambassador?"  
  
"Negative." She replied.  
  
Suddenly the comm officer spoke up, "I'm getting a signal, it's from the alien ship!" The transmission was broadcast across the fleet comm, without any action by the communication officer. Kaalel looked over his shoulder to the bewildered officer. She looked back and gave her shoulders a shrug.  
  
A deep, powerful voice proceeded to boom across all the comm systems on all the fleet ships. This was the voice of the Bentusi.  
  
"We are the Bentusi and welcome you among space faring cultures. The Unbound. The Outer Rim trade routes were established in the first time by our ancestors. The resources you collect are of value to the Bentusi exchange, they will serve as an acceptable medium for trade. It has been our custom to equip trading partners with an exchange unit, it has therefore been given to your ambassador as a gesture of good will."  
  
The ambassador corvette suddenly became visible on sensors as it emerged from the Bentusi ship. All life signs and systems on the corvette read as normal and appeared to be in good condition. To everyone's' relief, the ambassador soon radioed back to the mothership. "This is ambassador, we have cleared the Bentusi vessel, all systems green. Harbor control has released guidance and the exchange unit is secure. Receiving crews, prep the quarantine chamber." The ambassador sounded like he'd just awaken from a deep sleep as his voice sounded slightly weary. Kaalel was very relieved to see them alive and well as he confirmed docking permission for the corvette. The quarantine chamber acknowledged the ambassador and radioed that they were ready to receive them.  
  
The crew of the corvette was quickly put into isolation and sterilization after emerging from their ship. There didn't seem to be any sign of infection or any foreign disease on any of the crew, all were released after a few minutes of testing. When asked about their experience on the Bentusi vessel, none of them had any recollection of what happened. The last thing any of them remember was entering the Bentusi docking bay, and then....nothing. When their ship emerged from the docking bay and began heading back toward the mothership, they all 'woke up' as one crewman put it. Although the ambassadorial crew remembered nothing of their experience on the Bentusi vessel, they did insist that the Bentusi were a peaceful race and had absolutely no foul intentions towards them. They did not know how or why they felt this way, but they were sure about the feelings.  
  
The exchange unit was also of interest to the command staff. Upon arrival, the unit was moved into the docking bay and secured. The unit itself was a large cube, completely smooth along the surfaces and dark black in color. It seemed to be made of some sort of sensor reflective material, as all scanner beams directed towards the object were deflected. Suddenly on the top of the unit, a sort of console rose up, almost like rising out of a pool of liquid, and froze in place. The console glowed to life, on it was simple instructions on how to use the unit. It stated that, in exchange for 500 tons of refined metals, the Bentusi would provide codes to decode information on a new, high powered weapon technology that was included with the exchange unit. The command staff briefly discussed the matter and concluded that the resources could be spared. The resource collectors were still harvesting and were bringing in considerable amounts of Titanium, Duranium, iron and other valuable metals from the asteroid field they were harvesting.  
  
The exchange unit instructed the resources to be brought to the hangar bay. When the resource filled transports arrived, the top of the unit seemed to just dissolve, and a bright, flickering light began to fill the surrounding area. Inside was some sort of..portal, as best as anyone could describe it. It was somewhat similar to the wormhole technology used by the resource controller Bright Star, but with an extremely high-energy output. The wormholes generated by the Bright Star were a lot smaller and have a much lower power range. The power required to open and maintain them required the partial shut down of the Bright Star's fusion engines to channel the power into the generator matrix. This wormhole however, required 16 times less power to stay open and was approximately one- thousand times more stable. In theory, a person could jump into the vortex and emerge on the other side, with their atoms still in place.  
  
The transports were instructed to dump all the resources into the unit, they would then be transported to the Bentusi ship. The resources were poured in and....they vanished. After they were all gone, the top of the exchange unit resealed itself, and a new message appeared on the screen. The new ion weapon technology would now be able to be accessed and downloaded into the motherships' memory core. The scientists on the research ship Tamorra were given this information and immediately began to try and implement it into a new ship design. A final message appeared on the screen, it said simply that the transfer had been completed. Also the exchange unit was to remain where it was for future trades and was not to be touched or tampered with. Any such action would result in the units' destruction. The unit was immediately locked in its' own space in the hangar bay.  
  
After several minutes, the Tamorra contacted the mothership with good news. They had been able to design a new ship that could contain the new ion beam weapon. The cannon would be mounted along the spine of a frigate class chassis, drawing power from the ships' main drives. The acceleration ladder of the ion cannon had to be fairly long so as to get the ion particles up to the correct velocity, therefore, that was the only weapon that the frigate could carry. Two of these frigates went into immediate production in the main construction bay.  
  
Soon after the exchange with the Bentusi, the mothership was contacted by the aliens once more.  
  
"Turanic Raiders, servants of the Taiidan are arriving. They cannot learn of our contact, we must depart. All that moves, is easily heard in the void. We will listen for you. Farewell."  
  
"Sir, the Bentusi ship has activated a quantum wave front and is entering hyperspace." Commander Garn looked curiously at the screen. A bright yellow energy wave slid across the surface of the great ship as it disappeared into hyperspace. Commander Garn turned back to Kaalel, "I wonder who these Turanic Raiders are?"  
  
Colonel Kaalel gave a shrug of his shoulders, "I have no idea, but they don't sound very friendly whoever they are. We should probably get ready to get out of here." He looked up at the communication intercom above them, "How is the hyperdrive doing?" The unit crackled to life and was replaced by the voice of fleet command. "The hyperspace module is at twenty-two percent and rising. It will be charged in three hours." "Acknowledged." He said with a sigh. "Let's hope they take their time getting here."  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
Wing Commander Tanek Soban casually watched the bulky resource collectors lumber around and eat up all the small asteroids in their path. "What a boring job." he said to himself, as one of them slowly aligned itself under the Bright Star and delivered its' load of refined metals. His attention was drawn back down to his sensor screen, several small objects appeared to be moving around several kilometers above them. He couldn't be sure because of all the asteroid movement in the area, but something definitely seemed to be going on up there. He turned on the comm system, "This is Hammer leader to mothership. I'm picking up unidentified movement several vertical kilometers relative to our position. Please advise."  
  
Kaalel looked somewhat uneasy, "Send a probe up to that area and scan for any anomalous activity."  
  
"Aye sir, destination coordinates are programmed in and probe is away." The sleek probe zipped away from the mothership at a high rate of speed. After less than five minutes, it signaled back that it had reached its' destination and was moving into position.  
  
Garn walked over to his console, "Now, let's see what's up there. Patch probe video feed to my station." The console blinked to life and was replaced by several large asteroids against a star lit back drop. Everything seemed normal enough. "Can this thing change angles or something?" he asked the officer operating the probe. "Yes sir, the camera can pan thirty degrees in any direction." "Good, move it around a bit, lets get a look at this whole area." The view from the probes' camera began to shift. First it moved to the right and then the left. Just more asteroids. Then it panned down, in the distance commander Garn could make out the faint yellow hull of the Bright Star against the blackness of space. "Point it up lieutenant." He said. The camera began to pan upwards. Suddenly several strange objects came into view. "Hold it there! What the hell.?" he exclaimed and looked closer at the image. About the same time he realized what he was looking at, mass driver slugs began pelting the probe from above. The image on the camera was fixed on one of the craft as it passed by the heavily damaged probe, "Those are the same ships we fought back in the Kharak system!" he stammered. "All ships, go to alert condition-1. Enemy ships have been spotted and are on intercept vectors."  
  
Colonel Kaalel spoke next, "Turnaic Raider fighters are attacking our resource operation. Defend it and prepare for more hostile ships to arrive." The probes' operator was able to get just enough power out of the dying camera to get it to pan down again. The view now showed multiple heavily armed Turanic fighters screaming down through the asteroid column, they're bright yellow con trails leaving a ghostly wake in the space behind them. The dull yellow outline of the Bright Stars' hull was still visible in the distance.  
  
  
  
...........  
  
  
  
Red dots began to fill the sensor screen of Tanek Sobans' heavy corvette. He counted about a dozen enemy signatures coming at them from above. He activated his comm system, "This is Hammer Lead, bandits have been spotted and are incoming on attack vectors. Bandits are hostile, repeat, bandits are hostile. All ships, take up a defensive position above the Controller and prepare to engage." The nine corvettes began to move, and slowly accelerated towards the incoming fighters.  
  
Tanek looked at the range to target indicator on his console; it read two and a half kilometers and closing fast. The flak cannons had a range of about one and a half kilometers, 'just a few more seconds and they'll be in range.' he thought. The meters ticked off quickly on the console, he tensed his finger on the trigger. Just a few more seconds..now, "Fire!" he yelled into the comm and pulled the trigger. The cockpit shuddered as the launcher discharged the small projectile, which sped out into space. The burst canister was joined by three more just like it, launched from the other corvettes; they all streaked towards the incoming Turanic fighters, shimmering against the cold blackness of space. The first of the canisters was a dead on strike, punching through the armored front of the lead fighter. The shell drove deep into the interior of the target and detonated, tearing it apart from the inside out, in a brilliant orange ball of firey gas and plasma. Violent shockwaves and shrapnel, radiated outwards in all directions, sending the two closest fighters momentarily careening out of control.  
  
The second blast missed the fighters by several meters; it instead detonated in the center of their formation. The shockwave it through off crippled two of the fighters, the bright yellow glow of their powerful engines subsided as the two fighters tumbled out of control. The final two shots flew past the fighters and detonated where they had been only seconds ago, unfortunately doing no damage greater than shaking them around a bit.  
  
The remaining Turanic interceptors came into range and opened fire on the corvettes. Glowing trails of mass driver slugs shot towards the slow moving corvettes, pelting their surface and ripping into their armor. Three of the interceptors combined fire on one of the light corvettes causing extensive damage along the port side. Armor plating ripped off and flames began to issue from the deep wound, the corvette rolled to starboard, attempting to bring the damaged section out of the line of fire. Several of the other corvettes sustained minor hull damage as the fighters continued to pour steady streams of fire at the squadron. Two more of the interceptors went down as they flew through the formation of corvettes. One of them, taking multiple hits and bursting into flames as it rocketed past them. It resembled a shooting star, streaking through the night sky, before exploding into an expanding ball of molten debris. The fighters shot past the corvette group, trying to get out of range of their heavy rail cannons before turning to make another run at them. Another fighter was destroyed as the two rail blasts from a heavy corvette impacted against it's starboard engine nozzle, which burst into flames; sending the small fighter into an out of control barrel roll, ending as it crashed into a small asteroid and was blown to pieces. The fighters and corvettes were caught up in a vicious dogfight as the Turanic interceptors looped around and again vectored in to attack the corvette wing.  
  
Commander Garn watched the bright flashes and fiery explosions light up the shy from his station on the mothership. An expression of grim curiosity evident in his expression as he watched. "It's almost beautiful in a way, like fire works going off in the night sky." He said out loud. No one seemed to be paying any attention to him, they were all watching their screens and monitoring the course of the battle.  
  
The sensor officer whirled around in his chair and faced the commander. "Sir, another group of enemy ships are incoming on our position. Multiple fighters and some larger signatures, possibly enemy corvettes." The commander nodded in acknowledgement, "All fighters assume attack formations and engage at will. Assault group, form up and take position between the mothership and the enemy ships, don't let anything through." The bridge was caught up in a flurry of commotion as officers ran this way and that, carrying out their orders. The comm officer was barking constant updates on the status of the battle and relaying orders to the other ships.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
The sensor display in all the Kushan fighters began to light up and display the incoming cloud of enemy fighters. "Talon group, assume claw formation and prepare to engage. After the first pass, break by wing pairs and engage at will." A chorus of 'Aye sirs!' sounded through the comm channel as the other pilots confirmed his orders. Echo squadron moved into an X formation and moved in close beside them. The fighters all closed with each other, pilots tensing up and ready for action. Suddenly the space between the two groups exploded with streams of projectiles, desperately seeking their target.  
  
As the two groups clashed, one of Echo squadrons' scout fighters tore into a Turanic bandit with a continuous stream of rail slugs. The front of the bandit burst into flames and began to break up, however, it drifted into the scouts' flight path causing a deadly collision. The scout smashed into the bandit and proceeded to ricochet over the top of it, in an end over end roll. The collision sufficiently crushed the remaining undamaged bulkheads of the bandit, and it subsequently blew up as the flames engulfed its' fusion drives. The out of control scout tumbled a few times and then smashed head long into an oncoming bandit. The two fighters exploded immediately, the large rolling fireball lighting up the space around it with gas and debris. After the initial pass, all the fighters looped around and started an intense dogfight with each other; tracer fire and brilliant explosions lighting up the area like some fantastic light show.  
  
  
  
"Sir, Echo and Talon squadrons have engaged the enemy," said commander Garn as colonel Kaalel sprinted back on to the bridge.  
  
"What about those corvettes?" he said, "What is their position?"  
  
The lieutenant manning the sensor station spoke up, "Enemy corvettes are incoming on attack vectors with the mothership. They're ignoring out fighters."  
  
Kaalel looked back to the comm officer, "Have the assault frigates open fire on those corvettes. Are our own corvettes in a position to help?" The com officer looked up, tension evident on her face, "Corvette wing reports that they are heavily engaged sir." Looking at the sensor screen, Kaalel could see that their corvettes were being surrounded by a large group of enemy corvettes. The assault frigates formed into a broad attack formation and moved forward towards the approaching ships.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
"Load all torpedo bays and prepare to fire." Said captain Marek.  
  
He looked over his shoulder at his tactical officer, "Torpedoes armed and cannons are at full power." He replied.  
  
He looked back to the forward view screen, the enemy corvettes were getting closer. "Twelve seconds until they're in firing range." Said the lieutenant manning the sensor station in front of him.  
  
The seconds ran down and the corvettes quickly flew into range. "Open fire!" he yelled. The deck shuddered from the recoil of the plasma torpedo launcher tubes as they discharged they're deadly spheres of destruction. The torpedoes streaked off towards the incoming corvettes, the first two slamming into the side of one of them. The torpedoes exploded in a bluish, nova like explosion against the hull of the ship. Chunks of hull flew off as the explosion consumed the craft, breaching the fuel tanks and detonating the craft in an even larger display of incandescent fury. The response from the enemy force was a volley of guided, heavy missiles. The missiles streaked in and pounded against the hull of the frigates. Armor plates were torn off as the large missiles slammed against the frigates. The corvettes began to circle the assault frigates like wolves pacing a wounded animal. They easily evaded fire from the plasma torpedoes, but still took heavy damage from the numerous heavy rail cannons.  
  
  
  
"Sir, construction bay 1 reports they have finished work on the Angels Fury, she is launching out of the main flight bay now."  
  
Kaalel looked almost surprised at the lieutenants' statement, "They're done already? Excellent, have her attack those missile corvettes and draw some of the fire off our frigates." Colonel Kaalel looked pleased, they were winning. Their ships had taken the upper hand and had the Raiders ships under control.  
  
It would all be over soon.  
  
  
  
"Docking latches released, fuel arms are retracted and all external pressure doors have been sealed." The captain nodded to the young lieutenant, acknowledging the update. "Helm, take us out, one quarter speed until we clear the bay doors." The floor rumbled under their feet as the massive fusion engines pushed the great ship forward. The ion frigate lurched forward, the power of its' fusion engines becoming evident. Captain Nabaal silently prayed that the ship would hold together, as it pushed forward. The Angels Fury didn't have time to undergo any performance trials or systems checks after it was launched, her trial would come in battle. The frigate cruised forward and passed through the open launch bay and out into open space.  
  
"Helm, set course one-oh-one mark five-niner and engage at flank speed."  
  
"Aye sir!" replied the lieutenant as her fingers flew over the controls on her navigation console. The frigate began to turn on its' port side and slowly accelerated towards the battle.  
  
"Tactical, arm the main cannon now, and prepare to open fire."  
  
"Yes sir. Ion cannon will be ready to fire in ten seconds." Well, now would be they're test to see if this alien technology was going to work. Damn he wished they had time to test it out before going into battle, he just hoped in didn't blow up in their face. 'What the hell' he thought, 'lets see what this baby can do.'  
  
"Ion cannon charged and ready to fire," reported the weapons officer.  
  
"Target that corvette directly ahead and fire." He said. There was a low rumbling noise as the cannon powered up. The nose of the frigate began to glow a hazy scarlet as the charged ion particles danced across it. Suddenly, a crimson bean lanced out from the front of ship and tore through the blackness of space toward its' target. The beam made full contact against the side of the enemy corvette, vaporizing its' armor and an entire section of hull. The beam punched right threw the ship and caused the whole thing to disintegrate into an expanding ball of superheated gas.  
  
Captain Nabaal smiled, "Well, that looks like a pretty successful test to me!" The bridge crew nodded in agreement.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
Wing Commander Tanek Soban and his group were having a very difficult time defending the resourcergroup. Groups of Turanic missile and heavy corvettes had shown up and begun to attack. The missile corvettes were firing on the Bright Star and the nearby collectors, while the other corvettes were distracting their escort. The tough armor on the resource ships was resisting the damage incurred by the missiles rather well, but the constant attacks were beginning to penetrate the armor and the hull was beginning to buckle.  
  
Commander Tanek was maneuvering his ship around to get another shot at the two corvettes that were firing on him. The corvette shook as another blast exploded against the hull. He turned the ship on its' port side and pulled hard on the control stick. The corvette pulled into a tight turn, bringing the ship to face one of the Turanic corvettes, which was trying to swing around and get behind him. The two rail guns on the underside of the corvettes began firing in rapid succession, the hull vibrating from the massive recoil. The heavy slugs slammed into the side of the heavy corvette, tearing off a large chunk of armor plating. Several more shots penetrated the hull and tore the ship in half; both sections exploding and showering the immediate area with burning debris. The gunners cheered as the debris scattered across space and pinked against the hull. "Shut up back there! Concentrate on targeting!" he shouted, trying to keep the trill of victory out of his voice.  
  
The cheer didn't last long as the ship violently shuddered from a heavy impact. A section of the aft hull glowed bright red on the structural damage monitor in front of him. "Dammit! Forgot about him!" He cursed himself for losing contact with the enemy ship and allowing it to get behind him. He rolled the Hammer to starboard and made another hard turn, trying to lose the enemy corvette, or at least break its' weapon lock on his ship.  
  
As he was turning, he noticed one of the light corvettes in a similar situation. It was flanked by two Turanic corvettes, which were steadily pumping fire into it. "Hammer 6, pull up, pull up! Get out of there!" he screamed into his comm. It was to late, the light corvette was hit hard in the engine section by several mass driver shells. They penetrated the armor and breached the fusion reactor, causing it to explode and rip apart the ship. Tanek cursed again and continued his turn.  
  
He was once again faced with the enemy corvette which was turning to face him head on. It fired off a mass driver round that impacted heavily against the forward hull. He looked back at the damage display screen and noticed the forward armor around the cockpit was beginning to break apart. 'Better kill this guy quick.' He thought as his heavy corvette retaliated with two heavy cannon rounds that hit the corvette near the port engine housing, causing it to suddenly spin in the opposite direction, exposing its' aft flank to him. He saw his opportunity and proceeded to act on it. He hit his lateral thrusters and brought his corvette around and directly in line with the aft end of the Turanic corvette. He then shunted all drive energy into the burst launcher and targeted the enemy ship. "Chew on this!" he said as the canister fired and streaked out at the target, impacting in one of the thrust nozzles and burrowing through the aft hull into the interior of the ship. The canister exploded from inside the fusion engine and engulfed the corvette in a devestating explosion.  
  
That was the last of the heavy corvettes he realized with a quick scan of his sensor screen, he then joined the other units of his squadron and began attacking the missile corvettes assaulting the Bright Star.  
  
  
  
Major Hass'kn Nabaal pulled hard on his flight stick and rose above the stream of bullets coming from the two bandits that were on his tail. The bandits were unable to pull such a tight turn and were forced to break off and head in another direction. He finished his maneuver and pulled up on the tail of one of his pursuers. He pulled the trigger, sending a glowing stream of slugs into the aft section of the fighter. The hull vibrated as the guns unloaded into the bandit, blasting through the engine housing and detonating the fighter in a bright ball of glowing debris. "Yeeeehaaaaaaa!!!" he cried as he flew through the center of the explosion and emerged on the other side. He lost sight of the other bandit. However, he was just in time to see one of his wingmen streak past him, a bandit hot on his tail. "There you are." He said as he banked hard to starboard and began a tight turn designed to get in close on the bandits' tail. Halfway through the turn he noticed the bandit close rapidly with the interceptor and begin to fire on it. It was Talon 3. "Break right, Break right!" he yelled into his comm unit. The interceptor was slow to react to the turn and was hit in port stabilizer and began a flat spin out on its' side, exposing the fighters' lighter armor to the enemy. The bandit released another load of ammunition into the exposed starboard side of the craft. "Noooooo!!!" the young pilot screamed as the ship blew apart around him, consuming him in the ensuing fireball. Hass'kn finished his maneuver and came onto the tail of Talon 3's killer, "Die you bastard!" he screamed, as he sent dozens of glowing projectiles streaking towards the enemy fighter. The slugs connected with one of the bandits' engines, causing it to erupt into flame and break apart. The fighter rolled to starboard and plugged into a dive that ended as the flames engulfed it's fuel tanks and it exploded.  
  
  
  
...........  
  
  
  
Colonel Kaalel watched the course of the battle through the viewport on the motherships' bridge. He watched the fighter groups flying around, taking shots at each other and then avoiding the return fire. They reminded him of a swarm of tiny insects, buzzing around each other looking for food. But these were no insects, and they were not looking for food. They were out for blood, the bright flash from the explosion of a bandit fighter affirmed how deadly this fight really was.  
  
The frigates were finishing off the last of the missile corvette; having been joined by the ion frigate Angels Fury, they had little trouble targeting the slow moving raider corvettes. There was another bright flash as a corvette was consumed by the full power of the ion cannon from the Angels Fury. The corvette simply evaporated as the scarlet energy beam vaporized armor plates and entire sections of its' hull. By the time the cannon ceased firing, all that was left of the Turanic ship was an expanding cloud of drive plasma and the ships constituent atoms.  
  
The battle was going well. The Kushan fighters had the enemy bandits on the run, the frigates were quickly destroying the Turanic corvettes and the Kushan corvette wing had achieved area superiority and was inflicting heavy losses on the missile corvettes they were attacking.  
  
Suddenly, several indicators on the sensor control console began to light up, as well, a high pitched tone began to emit from the console. The command officers looked over in puzzlement. The officer in front of the console hit several controls and glared intensely at the screen. He spun around, a worried expression evident on his face. "I'm picking up multiple quantum wavefronts forming around the mothership."  
  
Kaalel and Garn quickly strode over to the console, "What are they?" Kaalel blurted out.  
  
"Uh..they look to be about frigate class ships...here they come." The screen lit up as the large ships completely emerged from hyperspace and began to turn and face the mothership. "Confirmed, frigate class vessels have emerged from hyperspace around our position. One contact to port and one to starboard and...wait..confirmed." He looked up to the two officers standing over him, his voice began to quiver, "Four contacts directly aft." The bridge became oddly silent as the reality of the situation slowly sunk in.  
  
"Battle Stations! All crew to battle stations!!" yelled commander Garn over the rush of activity on the motherships' bridge. Alarm klaxons blared and the bridge was bathed in the blood red lights of the high alert alarms. Bridge officers were running back and forth, shouting commands at each other. He looked back to the sensor station, "ETA on enemy ships?" The lieutenant looked up, "One minute, thirty-nine seconds."  
  
Garn looked at the screen and watched as one of the dark forms moved towards them. "Are you sure that they're Turanic ships?" he said, studying the approaching craft. "They may be another trading species or something." He said, desperately clinging to any hope that they would not attack.  
  
Kaalel looked at the screen and closely examined on of the dark shapes. "They look Turanic to me. Karan, do they have Turanic signatures?"  
  
The overhead comm system sparked to life, "Incoming vessels have an identical power signature to the Turanic fighters and corvettes that are currently attacking us. I'm picking up weapon signatures on enemy ships, energy readings are rising fast. I am picking up electromagnetic interference from all enemy frigates, ion cannon systems are powering up." Karans' voice still displayed no other rhythms except the cold sterile tone of the computer synthesized vocal pattern, still Kaalel got a hint of her nervousness at her exaggeration of 'weapon signatures' in her report.  
  
"Comm, open me a channel to the fleet," said Kaalel. "Enemy capital ships have emerged from hyperspace in close proximity to the mothership. All available ships scramble to intercept." He turned back to the commander who was standing rigidly beside him, "What's the status of the Star Flare commander?"  
  
Garn turned to him, his expression was full of fear but he kept his composure and controlled the pitch of his voice. "Construction bay 2 reports that she just left dock and has cleared the main doors." "Good. Have the Star Flare and Angels Fury move back and engage the enemy ships to our aft. Avenger and Valiant will go Starboard and Redemption will go port. All frigates are to engage at maximum power, keep those things from firing on the mothership. All strike craft are to engage the remaining Turanic fighters and assist with the heavy ships when possible. Now move!"  
  
Commander Garn started barking orders at the comm officer, who was quickly trying to relay all the orders to the various ship commanders.  
  
Kaalel strode over towards the tactical station, "Activate all defense systems and bring point defense cannons to full power."  
  
"Aye sir!" came the officers' reply.  
  
All along the motherships' outer hull, heavy blast plates began to slide out of position and reveal the large structures of the defense cannons underneath. Gyros and hydraulic systems activated as the cannons began extending out and locking into firing positions. Ammo feeds locked into position and the emplacements began to power up.  
  
"All gunnery crews, man your stations and prepare to defend the mothership!" he yelled, trying to get his voice above the chaos that was ensuing around him.  
  
Crewmembers filled the corridors as they ran to their stations. One by one the guns came online as they were manned, and activated their laser targeting systems, taking aim at the incoming ships.  
  
Karans' voice once again came across the comm array, her voice never wavering through the crisis. "Port and Starboard defense systems manned and online, Aft gun turrets manned and online. All defense turrets are at full power and on active tracking. Blast doors have closed on all essential operation points and magnetic containment seals are in place"  
  
"Time to intercept?" yelled Kaalel, over the background noise of the bridge. "One minute, fifteen seconds sir." The officer stated.  
  
  
  
...........  
  
  
  
Captain Marek looked defiantly at the incoming ship displayed on the viewscreen in front of him.  
  
"We'll be in range in 32 seconds." Said the sensor officer, not even looking up from his console.  
  
"Load torpedo bays and bring rail cannons to full power. Stand by to open fire."  
  
The dark shape of the Turanic ship cruised forward, heading directly for the mothership. As it approached, four large panels disengaged from the main structure and gently extended outwards locking into a perpendicular position with the main chassis. The display reminded Marek of a flower, blossoming in the sun of the early springtime back on Kharak.  
  
".12 seconds until firing range." Said the tactical officer. "Weapons at full power. All gunnery crews, stand by to engage."  
  
The panels on the side of the ship glowed and twinkled in the darkness. They seemed to be absorbing light energy, like a sort of solar powered cell. 'That must be how they get power for their systems.' He thought.  
  
One of the officers suddenly spoke up, "I'm getting an energy spike, they're firing!" Before he finished his sentence, the front of the Turanic ship glowed a brilliant blue as a powerful energy beam lanced out and cut through space towards the mothership.  
  
"Fire!" yelled the captain as the blue energy beam poured destructive furry into the side of the mothership. The hull of his ship began to reverberate as the massive guns unloaded hell onto the alien ship. Plasma torpedoes streaked out and smashed against the hull and mass driver shells punched holes in the armor. The Valiant began to fire as well, volleys of torpedoes and rail shells blasting away mercilessly at the Turanic frigate.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
Another ion beam lept from the bow of his ship and cut deeply into the side of the approaching Turanic vessel. Captain Naabal was pleased that the ion cannon was performing so well. The raw power of the beam as it ripped into the hull, sending huge jagged pieces of armor out into space was a sight to behold. Another hit. The Star Fury's cannon cut deep into the port side of the ship sending burning chunks of armor plating floating off in all directions.  
  
The Turanic ship seemed to be ignoring the two Kushan ships attacking it. It didn't turn to engage or make any attempt to evade the heavy beams cutting into it.  
  
Several more strikes and the frigate began to succumb to its' wounds. The ship rolled onto its' port side, fires raging from several large gashes along the main structure. It continued it's death roll, until a final barrage from the Angels Fury punched through the aft engine module and breached the fusion core. The escaping plasma ripped through the engine section of the ship, disintegrating the drive system and igniting the fuel tanks. Explosions rippled across the hull, until one last heated blast ended the frigates' existance in a huge ball of flame and burning debris. The surrounding area was bathed in a brilliant white light as the Turanic ship disintegrated; flaming chunks of armor were strewn about. One of the arrays escaped this fate as it was separated from the main body during the blast and floated away from the explosion, tumbling haphazardly through space.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
Another blast shook the bridge, forcing the officers to brace themselves so as not to fall to the deck. "Damage report!" yelled commander Garn, over the noise around him.  
  
"Hull breaches on decks twelve, thirteen and twenty-nine. Emergency blast doors are in place and holding, damage control teams are on route." Another blast shook the bridge, followed by the sound of screeching metal.  
  
Another officer spoke up, "Fires reported in cryo bay two!"  
  
"Divert all available personnel to cryo storage areas and repair all damaged cryo pods, fast!" yelled Kaalel.  
  
  
  
...........  
  
  
  
Captain Marek was forced to shield his eyes from the intense light from the explosion of the Turanic frigate. Huge burning chunks of hull and armor plating floated about, scattered from the force of the explosion; silently spinning and tumbling endlessly into the depths of space, forever. Several smaller pieces of the wreck pelted against the sides of the two assault frigates as they changed course and moved to engage the rest of the enemy frigates to the aft of the mothership.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
The crew on the bridge of the mothership gave a cheer as another of the Turanic frigates erupted in a luminous ball of destructive fury. Colonel Kaalel glanced out one of the port viewports and watched as the Redemption fired another volley of rail cannons into the side of the Turanic ship. Several fires began to burn where the heavy slugs breached the armor. A volley of plasma torpedoes were released from the front of the Taiidani ship, and streaked toward the wounded frigate. The torpedoes struck near the front of the main structure, vaporizing entire sections of hull in the intense heat of the explosion. As the explosion dissipated, the frigate stopped firing, the explosion obviously damaging the main ion cannon.  
  
Kaalel watched the helpless ship with special interest. More blasts rippled across the hull as the Redemption continued her vicious onslaught. He quickly turned back and faced commander Garn, "We should capture that ship out there, maybe we can get some information from the crew. The Bentusi said they were servants of the Taiidan, maybe they have some information we can use against them."  
  
"Agreed." The commander simply stated. "Redemption, this is command. Cease fire and hold position. Flank that ship and keep it from escaping. Hangar, prep the salvage corvettes for launch and have them bring that frigate in for capture. Bording teams, stand by in the main hangar." The commander gave a mischievous grin, "Lets see why these bastards are using us for target practice. Maybe we can return the favor?"  
  
Kaalel grinned as another ship detonated and cast a brilliant light throughout the command section, "I think we already did."  
  
  
  
...........  
  
  
  
The salvage corvettes Sand Crawler and Desert Thief gently glided through the motherships' main hangar and proceeded to head toward their disabled prey. They slowly drew closer to the dark vessel, moving cautiously forward through the dark void. Suddenly, alarms began to sound throughout the Desert Thief, indicating an enemy targeting solution.  
  
Captain Nabaal watched as the frigate ahead of them suddenly began to turn sharply to starboard, exposing its' burning port side to them. "What the hell are they doing?" he stated. One of his officers spoke up.  
  
"Sir, they have a weapons lock on one of the salvage ships!" the officer reported alarmingly.  
  
"Attention salvage teams, break off and take cover. You're being targ.." He cut himself off as the hazy blue ion beam lanced out of the front of the ship.  
  
The Desert Thief began to pull up and abort its salvage run. Everything started spinning as the beam connected with the ship, sending it careening away from the mothership, wildly spinning out of control. The ion beam punched right through the engine housing, leaving a jagged hole that went right through the aft end of the corvette. Fortunately, the crew compartment was not breached and life support was still functioning. The Desert Thief began to transmit a distress signal as it lost all power, and continued to tumble away from the mothership.  
  
The Turanic frigate was moving again to attain a target lock on the second corvette, however, it was promptly sliced in two by combined fire from the Angels Fury and Star Flare.  
  
The Sand Crawler was able to slip in behind the frigate and secure itself along the port array pylon that supported the two port array panels.  
  
The final attacking Turanic frigate vanished in a screeching display of destruction from combined fire from all four Kushan frigates. Two additional salvage corvettes were launched from the main hangar bay of the mothership and headed out into space. The Grappler headed off to assist the Sand Crawler in hauling in the disabled frigate, while the Kaku moved out and dragged the Desert Thief back in for repairs.  
  
The Turanic frigate was slowly dragged into the main bay, and secured in one of the unused construction berths. The boarding teams prepared to secure the ship.  
  
  
  
...........  
  
  
  
The battle seemed to be all but over as the last of the attackers was subdued. All the fighters and corvettes had been cleared by the Kushan fighter squadrons, who were now being refueled and repaired by the Eclipse. The bridge had quieted down for the moment, officers milled about issuing orders and assessing damage reports.  
  
All of a sudden, the officer manning the probe spoke up, "Hey, I'm getting something over here!" he cried.  
  
Commander Garn, who had been trying to relax in the aftermath of the action quickly got up and walk over to the probe console. "I thought the probe was finished?" he stated as he watched the static filled screen.  
  
"I managed to get partial systems back up, and the camera is working at minimal power." The commander studied the screen again, "What is that?" he pointed to a dark area that was slowly moving across the image. "I'll try and improve the picture." The officers' fingers flew over the controls on the console. The image brightened somewhat and most of the static dissipated. Suddenly, they both stiffened. On the screen before them was the boxy shape of a Turanic carrier, slowly sliding across the screen. Several bright flashes lit its' surface as rail shells streaked out and impacted with the probe. The probe exploded instantly as the video feed on the mothership was reduced to pure static.  
  
"Enemy carrier on intercept course! ETA is less than fifteen minutes based on last known position and calculated velocity." "I'm picking them up on long range sensors, looks like they're not alone!" stated the sensor officer.  
  
The comm system once again sparked to life above the heads of the bridge crew, "Bridge, this is hangar. The Pheonix has just cleared the docks, and Fires of Orion is in final systems check."  
  
"Acknowledged hangar," said colonel Kaalel as he quickly shuffled around the bridge, getting updates from the different sensor and communication posts as he went.  
  
"This is Hammer lead, I have a visual on the Raider carrier. It is passing about fourteen clicks above our position and it is not alone. Two frigate class ships appear to be trailing right behind it. Orders?" stated Wing Commander Tanek, as watched the giant ships pass silently over him.  
  
"Hold position, and be ready to intercept them," came the reply from commander Garn.  
  
The sheer size of the Turanic carrier sent shivers down Taneks' spine. It wasn't even close to the size of the mothership, but a hell of a lot bigger than any warship they had. It was probably pretty well armed to.  
  
Kaalel had the communications officer open up a channel to the fleet, "The Raider carrier has been spotted, it is reinforcing their squadrons of fighters and corvettes." Kaalel began to grow tense as he watched the signal draw closer on one of the sensor readouts.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
In the main hangar bay of the mothership, the captured Turanic frigate was being positioned in the holding clamps where it now resided. A large tube extended from the main assembly and pressed up against the hull of the enemy ship. Inside the tube, two groups of Kushan marines waited. As the tube was positioned, sparks began to fly from around the seal as laser torches began to cut through the heavy armor and make an entrance into the ship. The two separate trails of sparks went in opposite directions around the seal and after about five minutes of cutting, met at the bottom of the tube. Sergeant Mavik Soban looked back at the nineteen men huddled behind him, "Alright people, lock and load! We go in on my mark. Stay together and cover each other. Go!"  
  
The round section of hull that the laser torches had sliced open was forced back into the interior of the ship by several hydraulic jacks that put pressure on the edge to lodge it out of place. The slab of hull fell heavily to the deck, the sound of the impact ringing up through the corridors. 'Well, they know where we are now,' Mavik thought as he clambered through the opening and glanced down both sides of the corridor. "All clear, move it, move it! The two squads of marines moved into the corridor and began to fan out in a defensive formation. "Alpha team, head down to the engineering section and take control. Beta team, we'll head up to the command deck and assume control of the ship. You have your orders now move out!" he shouted and began to sprint down the hallway. The group of marines separated into two groups of ten and each went a different way down the corridor.  
  
Mavik led his team down the right side of the corridor, heading for the bridge. After several meters, gunfire was heard coming from the opposite direction. "Come in Alpha leader, what is your situation?!" he yelled into his communication device. The hand held device crackled a bit and a voice replaced the static, "This is alpha team, we have engaged multiple hostiles. We're holding position and outnumber enemy targets." "Copy," he stated. "Keep me updated." The gun fire abruptly stopped and beta team continued on their trek to the bridge.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
As the Avenger slid into the formation of frigates around the mothership, the enemy carrier came into view. 'That thing is huge!' Marek thought to himself. The menacing shape of the enemy ship drew closer and closer on the view screen. "All frigates assume battle formation! Keep enemy ships away from the mothership," came the order from fleet command.  
  
The frigates assumed two broad formations, one for the assault frigates and one for the ion cannon frigates. Both groups moved to intercept the incoming ships.  
  
"All fighters, attack incoming vessels. Echo squadron, attack the escorting frigates; Talon squadron, attack that command carrier." The comm responded with the acknowledgements by the two squadron leaders. "Hammer squadron, move in and engage those enemy ships!" Commander Garn knew very well that drawing Hammer squadron into the fight would leave the Bright Star and the two collectors vulnerable to enemy attack; however, he felt that this was the last of the enemy force left in the area.  
  
"I copy command, we're moving out now," said wing commander Tanek into his comm. A slight smile spread over his face. "Let's go squad, we got a carrier to take down!" The excited voices of his squad filled the comm line as the group accelerated toward the battle.  
  
Fighters swarmed about the area as the frigates closed with the Turanic ships. The frigates all released their deadly payloads of ion beams, plasma torpedoes and rail slugs into the hull of the approaching carrier. It in turn retaliated with two powerful ion beams from the front of the hull.  
  
The bridge shock as an ion beam washed over the port side of the Avenger's hull and ruptured hull and armor plating. "Get us behind it and out of their beam range!" he shouted as another heavy beam lanced across the bow of his ship. The assault frigates began to peel away from the approaching carrier and advance along the sides. Point defense batteries slammed into the frigates as they passed, not doing any real damage. The rail cannons mounted on the top and bottom of their hulls continued to fire at the carrier as the frigates passed.  
  
As the assault frigates moved around the sides of the carrier, attempting to get behind it; more ion beams began to impact against them. The escorting ion array frigates began to fire on the assault frigates as they moved into their firing arc. The group of assault frigates began to turn and face this new threat head on. "Fleet, this is Avenger. Escorting frigates have opened fire on us, we are moving to intercept."  
  
"Roger Avenger," replied the commander.  
  
The ion cannon frigates continued to fire as the Turanic carrier approached, moving backwards to keep a safe distance from the carrier. The interceptors of Talon squadron continued to strafe the surface of the ship, darting and weaving about like tiny insects. Boom! One of the interceptors was hit by a lucky shot from the carries' point defense batteries. The bottom of the tiny fighter was ripped out and it careened out of control to ram into the carriers' armored surface. Fortunately the pilot was able to eject before the collision, his escape pod streaking up and out of range of the Turanic onslaught.  
  
Hammer squadron continued to close in on the battle, which now loomed visible before them. The brilliant flash of ion cannons and the explosion of mass driver shells smashing into armor plating lit up the dark sky ahead of them. "This is lead, vector in on that frigate and open fire!" he said, aiming his ship for one of the ion array frigates. "Roger that, heading in," "Coming in on vector three-oh-nine, confirmed," acknowledged the rest of his squadron.  
  
The seven corvettes formed into a tight X formation and swooped in for the attack. Burst canisters, fired from the heavy corvettes, slammed into the hull of the Turanic ship and mass slugs ripped into armor plating. The frigate turned to fire on them but could not bring its' gun to bear fast enough. The corvettes began to circle the ship like vultures, pecking away at the armor and puncturing the hull.  
  
Meanwhile, the Turanic carrier commenced its' brutal attack on the mothership. Dual ion beams lanced out and cut deep into the hull of the mothership, vaporizing armored sections and scarring the finely detailed surface. The point defense guns blazed away at the carrier, but were to small to cause any discernable amount of damage.  
  
"Damage report!" yelled commander as the bridge shook from another impact.  
  
The lieutenant looked up from his display screen, "The forward hull is holding but is starting to buckle in several sections," he reported.  
  
"All point defense cannons have locked on and are firing!" reported the tactical officer. Another blast shook them and a sharp red indicator began to blink from one of the consoles.  
  
"Hull breach on deck 13," reported Karan, before the officer manning the console had time to speak.  
  
"We need more support! Assault frigate group, assist the mothership immediately. All fighter and corvette squadrons, attack those array frigates!"  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
Hammer squadron lined up for another pass on the wounded frigate. The Turanic frigate was burning heavily from the constant attacks by the corvettes, flames were rolling across its' surface from the dozens of gaping wounds inflicted by the corvettes' heavy guns. It slowly began to turn, in a vain attempt to bring its' gun to bear against the rapidly closing corvettes.  
  
"Charge burst cannons now," yelled commander Tanek as his group closed on the frigate.  
  
"Cannon charged sir!" replied one of his wingman, then the others reported in.  
  
"Loosen up formation and target the forward support structure, prepare to fire," the corvettes spread out from each other and lined up for their attack. "Fire!!!" he yelled as he pulled the trigger. The small, missile- like projectile streaked from the front of the ship and sped toward the enemy frigate. The warhead detonated heavily against the Turanics' hull, explosions rippled across its' surface in a chain reaction as hull and armor plating was vaporized and blown clear off the ship. Three more flak canisters, launched from the other heavy corvettes slammed into the ship and proceeded to amplify the destructive fury of the first impact.  
  
The Turanic ship reeled from the blasts and began to drift, burning heavily and leaking atmosphere and drive plasma from countless breaches in its' thick armor. The stream of atmosphere venting from a particularly large puncture in its' hull was acting as a thruster and propelled the stricken ship into a shallow roll, away into the deep void of space.  
  
Commander Tanek watched as the burning hulk, that was the enemy ship slowly drifted away. For a fleeting moment, he felt sympathy for the crew of the stricken vessel, drifting alone with no hope of rescue. He quickly pushed these feeling aside and went back to the matter at hand. He spoke into his comm system, "This is Hammer lead, one target down."  
  
"Acknowledged Hammer group, commence attack on the enemy carrier immediately." "Aye command," he replied as he pulled his ship into a tight turn and back on a vector towards the mothership.  
  
  
  
Captain Venka put his crosshairs over the gigantic enemy carrier and peppered it with fire. The tiny mass driver slugs pinked against its' hull doing very little damage. He pulled up just before a collision could take place and streaked across the carriers' surface. He glanced out his port window and caught sight of Echo 2, 'good, she's still with me,' he thought. "2, lock on to the power signature directly ahead and maneuver in for a shot at it." The power reading he was scanning was the fusion generator for one of the point defense cannons on the enemy carrier. "Aye sir, vectoring in."  
  
The two scouts dove down, closer to the hull of the ship. Mass driver rounds pierced the space around them in a vain attempt to halt their attack. "Closing on target," he said, as the structure grew in his forward canopy. Immediately, his crosshairs glowed bright, indicating a target lock. He pulled the trigger and sent the glowing projectiles screaming toward their target. Another stream of fire joined his and, together they ripped open the structure, causing flames and debris to explode outward. The gun became silent as its' power source was left burning on the side of the carrier.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
Mavik held up his hand, a signal to the other men in his team to stop. He looked intensely up the corridor where he heard the noise. He inched his way forward, his squad several feet behind him. Up ahead, he could make out several of the Turanic forms, they seemed to be guarding a door at the end of the corridor. 'Looks like the bridge,' he thought. He looked back and was about to signal his men when his personal comm crackled to life, two audible beeps sounded in the darkness.  
  
The Turanic Raiders heard the noise and raised their weapons. They began firing down the corridor without even knowing what they were shooting at. Bullets ricocheted and tore into the walls all around the marines, they ducked down close to the floor to avoid being hit.  
  
Mavik quickly tore a flash grenade from his vest and pulled the pin. He lobed the grenade towards the Turanics, who tried in vain to shoot it out of the air. Mavik managed to pick one of them off while they were firing at the grenade. It detonated with a loud boom and electrical discharge. A brilliant white light filled the entire corridor as the Turanics howled in pain. Mavik and his team stood up, with blast shields down they could see perfectly. The blinded warriors stumbled around and fired off harmlessly into the ceiling. As several of them gained their senses back, they looked down the corridor and watched the approaching marines. Having no more alternatives, they pointed their weapons to the walls and opened fire. "What the." Mavik began, "Stop them!" he yelled as he realized what they were doing. All of the marines opened up on the Turanic, cutting them to pieces before they were able to blow out the hull to the ship. He knelt down beside the body of one of his comrades, the man had been hit in the head by a chance shot from the Turanics. He would be remembered. Mavik quickly jumped up and went into action. The marines burst open the door to the bridge and lobed in several more smoke and flash grenades which incapacitated the rest of the soldiers and bridge crew. They met little resistance as they took control of the bridge.  
  
Mavik glanced around and activated his comm, "Beta team has taken the bridge command," he said.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
The carrier grew larger in Taneks' viewport, 'big and ugly,' he thought as he drew closer and closer. The space around it was filled with weapons fire as the frigates traded shots with it and the fighters buzzed about like a swarm of angry bees. They closed in and fired, burst canisters and heavy slugs slammed into the thick hull and tore off more armor as the carrier began to burn.  
  
The corvettes prepared to fire again when they began taking hits. Rail shells rained down on them as the carrier retaliated for their attack. The shots pelted against the corvettes' hull, Hammer 3 took a hit to her engines and started spinning wildly toward the carrier. The escape pod lifted from its' stricken fuselage as the Cavalier corvette slammed into the carriers' surface.  
  
Tanek cursed himself, 'Another one down,' he thought and banked his craft hard to starboard for another pass at the carrier  
  
The ship shuddered as several rail shots pierced the armor. Alarms began to sound as the hull was compromised in several places. He finished his turn and then began a dive towards the aft of the ship, and out of its' line of fire. As he pulled up, a brilliant blue flash lit up the cockpit, followed by a violent shudder and the sound of tearing metal. The corvette was thrown into an end over end roll, off into open space, which ended as he used the last of the thruster power to calm the erratic flight.  
  
The alarms abruptly stopped, Tanek looked down and knew why; an ion blast from the remaining ion frigate cut the whole engine section off his craft. The damage display, using battery power, showed the missing section of hull, almost one-third of the ship. He immediately called back to the gunners, "You guys alright back there. No answer. He tried again, but still, no answer from them. He felt sick.  
  
Several kilometers ahead of his craft, lay their tormentor. The ion array frigate slowly began closing on the disabled corvette.  
  
None of the systems worked, he soon realized to his dismay. There was nothing to do but wait. The ship drew closer, its' arrays slowly spread out and locked, they began glow and sizzle as they took in energy. It wouldn't be long. He closed his eyes and waited for the blue light to envelop him.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
Commander Garn looked furiously at the Turanic carrier as it poured ion fire into the front of the mothership. It was burning severely now, but continued to fight. "Echo squadron reports another ship down, and I've lost contact with Hammer leader," Karan reported. "Heavy damage to the forward hull, but it is holding."  
  
The carrier took more fire from the Kushan ships. Parts began to break off and fire spread across its' surface like waves along the surface of a lake. Another ion beam impacted heavily against the ship, a huge section of jagged and serrated hull plating was torn free and began to drift slowly through space. Atmosphere, as well as all sorts of other structural material was blown out through the opening.  
  
Kaalel looked triumphantly at the carrier as its' bow pulled up and it began to rise up and away from the battle, its' damaged condition slowing it down as it went. Plumes of smoke and burning debris floated in its' wake as it fled, making it look as if it were sailing through a debris filled lake.  
  
A cheer broke out on the bridge of the mothership as they watched the Turanic carrier begin to flee. Most of the Kushan fleet sped after it, only the most damaged ships stayed behind to be repaired. The repair corvettes sped around and began repairing holes in the motherships' hull, while fighters and corvettes docked to be fuel up and repaired by the Eclipse.  
  
"The Raider carrier is retreating, if it escapes, they will warn the Taiidan fleet of our pursuit. Do not allow them to hyperspace," said colonel Kaalel into the fleet comm, as he watched the great ship plow upwards as it fled. The pursuing Kushan frigates poured volley after volley of ion beams, plasma torpedoes and rail cannons into its' burning flank. The carrier responded with small point defense cannons, which only lightly damaged the hulls of the pursuing frigates.  
  
  
  
..........  
  
  
  
Commander Tanek closed his eyes and waited for the bright blue beam from the enemy frigate to vaporize his helpless ship. After several seconds, the light came..but it was the wrong color and coming in from behind him. He quickly opened his eyes and turned his head just in time to see the intense sapphire beam lance past his cockpit and connect with the Turanic frigate. The beam cut along the port superstructure of the ship, leaving burned hull plating in its' wake. The ship turned to face this new threat and unleashed its' own brand of ion death at the approaching enemy.  
  
Tanek watched in awe as the great ship passed by his tiny corvette. Fires of Orion he read off the name plate on the side of the frigate as it passed him by and continued to press the attack.  
  
Another ruby beam cut deeply into the Turanic frigate, exposing several of the lower decks to hard vacuum. A short burst from the enemy frigate cut into the upper hull of the Orion, tearing out some of the armored hull around the impact site. The great ship remained undaunted and pressed forward. The array frigate suffered a critical blow as one of the array panels was sliced clear off the hull and began to slowly float away. The Turanic ship sat silent for a few seconds, before being enveloped in a brilliant white ball of light as its' fusion core overloaded and blew. When the light faded, there was nothing left but a few molten globes of debris and the blown off array panel.  
  
Above the mothership, the Turanic carrier gave one last lurch forward and then was cut into pieces by three-combined ion cannons into the engine section. The whole aft end of the ship erupted into a devestating series of explosions and flying debris. The flames spread throughout the engineering section, reaching the fusion core and melting the containment seals around it. The whole ship vaporized in a huge sphere of burning plasma and superheated gas that scattered the tattered remains of the carrier across the sector.  
  
Salvage corvettes and recovery shuttles spread out and began to rescue the survivors. Tanek was relieved when his com cracked to life and informed him that the Kaku was coming to bring him in. Repair ships darted about, repairing the damage incurred by the Raider ambush. The Raiders were gone, now the Kushan fleet was free to repair and rebuild. Soon they would face the Taiidan fleet that destroyed Kharak, they would make them pay dearly for what they did. Soon, the dead of Kharak will be at peace. Soon. 


End file.
